Concrete is high in resistance to various environments, and moreover, strongly alkaline, and hence is used for concrete structures. Due to the strong alkalinity of concrete, a passive film is formed on the surface of reinforcing bars placed inside a concrete structure, and hence the reinforcing bars are protected from the corrosion due to, for example, water or chlorine from the outside. Consequently, concrete structures are known as structures high in durability.
However, concrete structures having been considered to have high durability are degraded in durability due to, for example, neutralization, salt damage, frost damage or alkali-aggregate reaction, and doubt comes to be cast on the service life of concrete structures as structures. Here, the degradation of a concrete structure is considered to be caused by the penetration of the degradation causing substances (for example, water, carbon dioxide and chlorine) into the inside of the concrete structure through the capillaries, pores, or cracks present in the concrete structure.
Accordingly, concrete protective agents have been proposed in order to repair such degraded concrete structures. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a concrete protective agent including two or more alkali metal compounds selected from sodium silicate, potassium silicate and lithium silicate. According to the concrete protective agent described in Patent Literature 1, by the filling with a C—S—H gel, the capillaries and the like to work as the paths of the degradation causing substances can be blocked, and consequently, the degradation of concrete structures such as the neutralization, salt damage, frost damage or alkali-aggregate reaction can be prevented.